From a 2015 three-piece demo of "Marz" to a debut album and a stadium stage with A.R. Rahman, The Yellow Diary turned diary pages into Hindi and Punjabi anthems — with four tracks on Spotify's Rock in India.

The Yellow Diary band did not begin as a stadium act. In 2015 in Mumbai, vocalist-lyricist Rajan Batra and keyboardist-producer Himonshu Parikh started writing what became "Marz"; guitarist Vaibhav Pani and drummer Sahil Shah came in soon after, and bassist Stuart DaCosta completed an early fivepiece. A decade later they hang on Spotify's Rock in India playlist beside elders of the scene, and their first full album, In Case We Forget, arrived in November 2025.

In our 13 October 2026 snapshot, four Yellow Diary songs sit on Spotify's Rock in India playlist: "Marz", "Buniyaad", "Rab Raakha" and "Sajni".

The Yellow Diary band at a glance

  • Formed: 2015, Mumbai
  • Founding core: Rajan Batra (vocals, lyrics), Himonshu Parikh (keys, production, backing vocals), Vaibhav Pani (guitar); Stuart DaCosta (bass) and Sahil Shah (drums) joined early
  • Current members: Rajan Batra, Himonshu Parikh, Stuart DaCosta, Sahil Shah, Harshvardhan Gadhvi (guitar; joined ~2021)
  • Sound: Hindi and Punjabi alt-rock / pop-rock; synth-led anthems and diary-like lyrics
  • Known for: "Marz", "Buniyaad", "Rab Raakha", "Sajni", "Roz Roz" (with Shilpa Rao)
  • Label path: Sony Music India (2018–mid-2020s singles/EPs); In Case We Forget (2025) under exclusive license to first.wav
  • Milestone: first stadium show, opening A.R. Rahman's Wonderment Tour at DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai (May 2025)
  • Latest release: In Case We Forget (album, 28 November 2025)
  • On Spotify's Rock in India: "Marz" (track 11), "Buniyaad" (16), "Rab Raakha" (21), "Sajni" (28)

How did The Yellow Diary band begin?

According to The Hindu in 2023, Batra and Parikh met through a common friend in 2015 and started on their maiden song "Marz". After the release they decided to collaborate full time, bringing in Pani and Shah, who then brought in DaCosta. Rolling Stone India in 2016 lists the founding three as Pani, Batra and Parikh, with DaCosta (from Hindi pop-rock act Mauj Maharaja, formerly Something Relevant) and Shah joining later — the experimental alt-rock sound of the live band took shape after that expansion.

"Marz", released in October 2015, drew early praise from Vishal Dadlani, Raghu Dixit and Warren Mendonsa. "Bawri Chhori" followed in February 2016; the live-audience video for "Sada" arrived that September. Batra told Rolling Stone India that the band they first imagined was "totally different" rhythmically and sonically from what emerged once Stuart and Sahil were in the room.

The name is literal and metaphorical. In a 2020 Indulge Express interview the band said their songs are "pages drawn from our experiences"; yellow, they added, "showcases a gradient from dark to bright". Parikh told The Hindu the same: yellow covers happiness, mystery and eeriness.

Who are the members of The Yellow Diary?

The current lineup, confirmed across Rolling Stone India (2023–24) and The Hindu (2023), is:

  • Rajan Batra — lead vocals, lyrics, composition (former naval cadet)
  • Himonshu Parikh — keyboards, production, backing vocals (former engineer)
  • Stuart DaCosta — bass (former advertising executive; previously Mauj Maharaja / Something Relevant)
  • Sahil Shah — drums (former merchandiser; also teaches music)
  • Harshvardhan Gadhvi — guitar (joined after Vaibhav Pani left; first collection of songs with him is the Mann EP, 2023)

Parikh told Rolling Stone India that Gadhvi had "become family overnight", calling him a "brilliant musician" whose energy made songwriting feel effortless. In a HighOnScore interview the same autumn, Parikh dated Harsh's arrival to about two years earlier — roughly 2021 — and said "Mann" was the first song written with him.

They describe the creative unit as five equal parts. "There's no one particular leader," Batra told HighOnScore. Shah puts it another way: they are "servants of the music itself".

What are The Yellow Diary's key songs and EPs?

Sony Music India released the Marz EP on 26 April 2018 (tracks: "Marz", "Afzai", "Kashmir") and the Izafa EP on 16 November 2018 ("Tere Jeya Hor Disda", "Dheere Se", "Buniyaad"), per Apple Music and contemporary coverage. Those two EPs still feed the Rock in India snapshot: "Marz" and "Buniyaad" sit at positions 11 and 16.

"Rab Raakha" arrived as a single on 28 January 2020. The band told Indulge Express it was written in 2017 in a spur-of-the-moment jam when Parikh played a synth chord progression that Batra latched onto; the song was finished in a few hours. It sits at track 21 on Rock in India.

"Sajni", released 27 January 2022, is a Punjabi alt-rock ballad the band first wrote in 2015 and kept revisiting as a live staple. "Every time we sat down to finish the song we made many additions, but ultimately the question was how to conclude it," Batra told Rolling Stone India. DaCosta noted that its pandemic-era release helped listeners grieve; family members told him the song had helped them. It is track 28 on Rock in India.

Between those landmarks came "Roz Roz" with Shilpa Rao (February 2021), "Udaan" (December 2021), "Mujhe Mere Naam Se" (April 2023), and the Mann EP (1 September 2023: "Mann", a reworked studio "Sada", and "Kaun Mera"). In 2024 they rolled out "Kahe Kahe" (14 June), "Chhadd Jaave" (19 July) and "Aqda" (30 August) around a nine-city tour. That touring impulse sits in the same DIY-to-stage lineage we traced in our Rock in India feature — even as Yellow Diary worked with a major label for years, the songs still had to land live.

Drummer Sahil Shah has pushed back on being boxed as "rock" alone. "It's great that people think that The Yellow Diary is holding the Indian rock flag. But we really aren't thinking rock when we get into a room together," he told Rolling Stone India in 2022. "Most of the time we are thinking what the best idea for the song and the emotion it carries."

What is In Case We Forget — and where do they stand now?

On 28 November 2025 The Yellow Diary released In Case We Forget, their first full-length album: nine songs, about 29 minutes, via first.wav (Apple Music). An Apple Music track-by-track has Batra calling it "a culmination of everything that we've felt this year" — songs about home and exhaustion ("Sheher"), a father's letter ("Yours Always, Dad"), friendship ("Yun Hi Kahin", also issued as a single on 7 November 2025), purpose ("Chasing"), and a playful duet with Lisa Mishra ("Tere Siva Re"), plus "Dil Challeya Ve" with DaCosta's rap, "Saaye", "Dastoor" and bonus "Tham". Shilpa Rao also appears on the album's guest list in Apple's editorial framing.

Months earlier, in May 2025, they opened A.R. Rahman's Wonderment Tour at DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai — their first stadium date, reported by Deccan Herald. The jump from 2016 studio live videos to a stadium support slot matches the arc Batra described to HighOnScore: each milestone becomes another zero to chase.

They share listeners with peers on the same playlist. The Local Train built Hindi indie rock for a national streaming audience; Indian Ocean and Parikrama proved longevity on the road; Motherjane kept reinventing progressive rock from Kochi. The Yellow Diary's contribution is the diary itself — Mumbai voices, Hindi and Punjabi, synth and guitar, emotion first.

FAQ

Who are the members of The Yellow Diary band?

Rajan Batra (vocals, lyrics), Himonshu Parikh (keys, production), Stuart DaCosta (bass), Sahil Shah (drums) and Harshvardhan Gadhvi (guitar). Founding guitarist Vaibhav Pani left; Gadhvi joined around 2021.

When was The Yellow Diary formed?

In 2015 in Mumbai. Their breakthrough early single "Marz" came out in October 2015; the Marz EP followed on Sony Music India in April 2018.

What are The Yellow Diary's most famous songs?

"Marz", "Buniyaad", "Rab Raakha" and "Sajni" are their four tracks on Spotify's Rock in India (13 Oct 2026 snapshot). "Roz Roz" with Shilpa Rao and the Mann EP are also widely known.

Has The Yellow Diary released a full album?

Yes. In Case We Forget, their debut album, was released on 28 November 2025 (nine tracks). Before that they released EPs (Marz, Izafa, Mann) and a long run of singles.

Sources

Cover photo: The Yellow Diary press photo (Kahe Kahe era, 2024) by Tirth Dodia and Avadh Gajjar / Lost Films, via Rolling Stone India (https://rollingstoneindia.com/the-yellow-diary-tour-dates-new-song-kahe-kahe/). Modified: cropped and resized to 1200×630.